Gel confections such as imitation fruit pieces, fruit bars, jelly bean centers, and sugared jellies have been prepared with sugar, water, and starch for many years. These confections have a firm, but soft, texture which contributes to their desirable mouthfeel. The gel confections are typically manufactured by a starch mold casting process known in the trade as the Mogul system. In this process, the ingredients are cooked at a temperature above the boiling point of the mixture and/or at a moisture level above that of the finished confection for a sufficient length of time to fully activate, or gelatinize, the starch. In a typical pressure cooking process for a commercial Mogul system, the ingredients are cooked at a moisture level of about 20 to 25 weight percent at a temperature of about 140.degree. to 180.degree. C. for less than about 1 minute. The starch is generally an acid-thinned (also known as thin-boiling) common corn starch or a high-amylose starch or a blend thereof. After cooking, the hot liquid mixture is deposited into a starch mold. The starch mold forms the confection and helps to reduce the moisture content. The deposited confections are then routinely dried for about 24 to 72 hours to reach the desired moisture content of about 14 to 20 weight percent.
There are many disadvantages of the Mogul system. High temperature cooking may cause carmelization which is detrimental to flavor and appearance. Cooking at high moisture levels requires subsequent drying. However, cooking at lower temperatures and/or with lower moisture levels does not fully gelatinize the starch. Ungelatinized starch does not significantly contribute to gel structure and, instead, functions only as filler. The primary disadvantage of the Mogul system is probably that it is extremely slow, due to the necessity of drying.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,265,508, 3,265,509, and 3,265,510 (Wurzburg et al.) disclose an alternative process of manufacturing starch-based confections. An aqueous mixture of sugar and a starch in non-dissolved form is subjected to the heat, pressure, shearing and mixing action of an extruder to effect dissolution the starch and sugar and then expelled from the extruder to form a solid, plastic, shape-retaiing confectionary mass.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,055 (Moore) discloses a process which comprises heating and extruding a mixture of sugar, water, and about 12 to 20 weight percent of a cold-water-swelling starch having an especially high gel strength. The starch is gelatinized as the mixture passes through the extruder, which subjects the mixture to heat and shear under high pressure. Optional ingredients include colors, flavors, fruit purees, juice concentrates, and acidulants. The relatively high level of the cold-water-swelling, high-gel-strength starch is employed to give the mixture a sufficiently-high viscosity for forming at the moisture level of the confection. This high level of starch also contributes to a final product texture which is firm, but more resilient than the traditional Mogul system gel confection.
To prepare a gel confection having a texture more similar to a Mogul system gel confection, U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,293 (Moore et al.) discloses a process of heating a mixture of sugar wwater and a first gelling agent to activate the first gelling agent, mixing the activated mixture with an instant starch gelling agent and forming the resulting mixture, e.g. by extrusion into ropes which areallowed to set and are then cut.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,627(Moore) generally describes processes for molding confectionery pieces with solid "starchless" molds and particularly describe the molding of gel confection pieces by deposition of a fluid mixture of confectionary ingredients comprised of a high amylose starch, into a solid, starchless mold, solidification of the confection inversion of the mold and demolding of the confection by the injection of steam into the inverted mold.
While the above extrusion methods and molding methods overcome various problems associated with the Mogul system, a need exists for efficient and convenient methods of preparing gel confections having superior optical clarity and/or the many shapes obtainable with the Mogul system.